THE DISENGAGEMENT / Chaotic defiance at synagogue / Israelis at one settlement rain barrage of items down on soldiers removing them from Gaza Strip

Scott Wilson, Washington Post

Published 4:00 am, Friday, August 19, 2005

Photo: KEVIN FRAYER

Image 1of/2

Caption

Close

Image 1 of 2

Jewish settlers resist forced evacuation by Israeli soldiers and police in the synagogue of the Jewish settlement of Neve Dekalim Thursday Aug. 18, 2005. Israeli forces stormed Gaza's largest synagogue to remove some 1,500 protesters holed up inside, one of the last bastions of resistance to the Gaza pullout.(AP Photo/Kevin Frayer) less

Jewish settlers resist forced evacuation by Israeli soldiers and police in the synagogue of the Jewish settlement of Neve Dekalim Thursday Aug. 18, 2005. Israeli forces stormed Gaza's largest synagogue to ... more

Photo: KEVIN FRAYER

Image 2 of 2

Settlers throw green paint to Israeli police as they storm the rooftop of the synagogue of the Jewish settlement of Kfar Darom, in the southern Gaza Strip, Thursday Aug. 18, 2005. Helmeted riot police stormed the rooftop of the synagogue in this hardline settlement Thursday, battling dozens of protesters who threw acid, sand and buckets of green liquid and tried to hit officers with sticks. It was the most violent confrontation yet between protesters and troops during the Gaza pullout.(AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis) less

Settlers throw green paint to Israeli police as they storm the rooftop of the synagogue of the Jewish settlement of Kfar Darom, in the southern Gaza Strip, Thursday Aug. 18, 2005. Helmeted riot police stormed ... more

Photo: LEFTERIS PITARAKIS

THE DISENGAGEMENT / Chaotic defiance at synagogue / Israelis at one settlement rain barrage of items down on soldiers removing them from Gaza Strip

1 / 2

Back to Gallery

2005-08-19 04:00:00 PDT Kfar Darom, Gaza Strip -- More than 1,000 Israelis made a defiant stand Thursday in the synagogues of two Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip, confronting their own soldiers with rudimentary arsenals of household items in a final attempt to prevent their evacuation from land they believe was promised to them by God.

The standoffs came as Israeli soldiers moved swiftly to clear communities that have been most opposed to the Gaza evacuation. After a day of emotional encounters around kitchen tables and in places of worship, Israeli officials said 17 of Gaza's 21 settlements had been emptied entirely with agreements in place to evacuate two others.

Report: Ivanka Trump Used Private Email Account For Official BusinessGeoBeats

'Absurd': White House Says US Has 'Not Declared War On North Korea'GeoBeats

CNN's Acosta Asks If Trump Is Trying To Wage A 'Culture War'GeoBeats

White House Defends Trump's Remark: It's 'Appropriate' For The President To Defend Our FlagGeoBeats

"IMPEACH Donald Trump" billboard debuts on Bay BridgeKTVU

In perhaps the most dramatic moment of the highly unusual military operation to end Israel's nearly four-decade presence in the coastal strip, Israeli troops stormed the synagogue in Kfar Darom for hours over the course of a sweltering afternoon.

Using water cannons and cranes, Israeli forces broke through barricades of tables lashed together with rope, coils of razor wire and a hail of rocks, paint-filled light bulbs and what military officials said was acid thrown by scores of settlers on the roof. Dozens of commandos took more than three hours to clear the building.

"This was the most difficult place, no question about that," said Gideon Meir, a senior Israeli Foreign Ministry official who was splattered with paint as he watched. "But in the end, it went faster than anyone imagined."

The fight for the synagogue was a riveting, emotional coda to the Gaza evacuation, if not the actual end of the mission. Israeli military officials said about 200 families remained inside the strip, defying government eviction orders, a figure that doesn't include people who have arrived in recent weeks to strengthen the opposition.

Army officials said the operation would pause Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath, and conclude early next week. The Israeli military will then begin demolishing more than 2,000 homes and public buildings in the Gaza Strip, where 8,500 Jewish settlers have lived among 1.3 million Palestinians in the years since Israel occupied the territory in the 1967 war.

In Neve Dekalim, a settlement roughly 5 miles to the south, two columns of soldiers locked arms to create a path through the crowd into the Great Ashkenazi Synagogue. More than 1,000 residents and recent arrivals from the West Bank had sought refuge there as soldiers nearly completed house-to-house evacuations.

Soldiers formed the safe passage to the doors, and soon troops were hustling up the ramp. Inside, they found hundreds of people lying on the floor in what one soldier described as "a carpet of people all yelling and screaming. " One by one, soldiers began carrying them out.

"If this had happened in any other country, they would call it anti- Semitism," said Eran Tamir, a rabbi inside the Gaza settlements.

Just after sundown, more than 1,000 Israelis had been removed from the synagogue, and the soldiers and settlers inside joined together for evening prayer. A police commander then ordered everyone to leave.

"Nothing will be the same in this country after this," said Ronit Sarai, 19, who arrived more than a week ago from the Israeli city of Haifa. "The nation has taken sides. They have made decisions about who they are for and who they are against."

A few hours after sunrise Thursday, hundreds of soldiers entered the front gate of Kfar Darom, known as perhaps the most ideological settlement in Gaza. The 65 families have been bolstered in recent weeks by the arrival of hundreds of young people from the West Bank.

For much of the day, about 100 people on the synagogue roof rained paint, eggs and plastic bags filled with milk down on everything from buses to army officers.

Near dusk, an armored truck mounted with a water cannon pulled in front of the synagogue and was showered by paint. Firing jets of water along the roof line, the cannon brushed back the men as a column of black-clad commandos, armed with shields, helmets and goggles, sprinted toward the front door.

For several hours, soldiers cleared the first and second floors. Deployed on both sides of the synagogue were two cranes, each holding a shipping container with one side cut out and replaced with steel gates. Inside were roughly a dozen commandos, holding their shields to the doors against the rain of paint.

At dusk, when columns of soldiers leaned ladders against the roof and began climbing amid a torrent of debris. A blue-and-white stream of paint and water drove the men back.

But they moved forward again, pelting the climbing soldiers with cans of food, motor oil, sand and foam that left some commandos looking like they'd been dipped in marshmallow. After 15 minutes, the first commando opened up a hole in the razor wire with bolt cutters, the containers landed on the roof, and soon the settlers were overwhelmed.

More than 100 people were arrested and will face charges, Israeli officials said. At least 41 police and soldiers and 17 civilians were injured during Thursday's raids on six settlements, including Neve Dekalim and Kfar Darom, police said.

Latest from the SFGATE homepage:

Click below for the top news from around the Bay Area and beyond. Sign up for our newsletters to be the first to learn about breaking news and more. Go to 'Sign In' and 'Manage Profile' at the top of the page.